Knowledgebase

ResDAC has developed over 100 articles that cover topics ranging from the CMS data request process through using the data for a study. CMS has developed additional resources, including TAF data quality briefs and TAF data quality state snapshots, examining the quality of the Medicaid data.
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Introductory
Articles
Differences between RIF, LDS, and PUF Data Files
CMS offers files from aggregate data to individual person level data. This article describes the differences between the aggregate, public use files, the limited data sets,…
Federal Regulations Governing the Release of CMS Data
This article describes the Federal Regulations that govern the release of CMS data for research.
Strengths and Limitations of CMS Administrative Data in Research
The purpose of this article is to identify 1) common strengths of Medicare and Medicaid administrative data and 2)  broad limitations for researchers to consider when…
Popular
Articles
How to Identify Hospital Claims for Emergency Room Visits in the Medicare Claims Data
This article provides guidance on how to identify hospital emergency room claims from the Medicare files.
Diagnosis and Procedure Coding Resources
Providers that bill Medicare use codes for patient diagnoses and codes for care, equipment, and medications provided. This articles provides resources to identify the codes…
CMS Cell Size Suppression Policy
To describe the CMS cell size suppression policy and provide examples of common scenarios and possible options.

Featured Article

Requirements for Institutional Review Board (IRB) Review and HIPAA Waiver Documentation for RIF DUA Request Submissions
CMS must ensure that all research requests for identifiable (RIF) data have IRB documentation to satisfy the requirements of the Common Rule and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This article describes the requirements…
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How to Identify Hospital Claims for Emergency Room Visits in the Medicare Claims Data
This article provides guidance on how to identify hospital emergency room claims from the Medicare files.
BSA Prescription Drug Event (PDE) PUF - Linking the Drug Name variable to RxNorm
Provide the steps to identify the drug name from the RxNorm database for the NDCs in the BSA PDE PUF. 
Inclusion of Hospital and Skilled Nursing Stays in the RIF Annual MedPAR and Claims Data
Researchers working with the Research Identifiable (RIF) MedPAR or Inpatient and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) claims may find records that do not appear to correspond to the year of the file. This article explains these instances. 
Difference Between Line Payment Amounts in Carrier File
This article describes the difference between two similiar variables in the carrier file -the Line NCH Payment Amount and Line Provider Payment Amount.
Discrepancy in the Outpatient Claim Payment Amount and Sum of the Revenue Center Payment Amounts
This article explains possible discrepancies when using the outpatient file to calculate payment amounts at the claim level and revenue center level.